


she means everything to me

by silentassassin21



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: All relationships other than Malvie are background, Bisexual Mal, Evie's POV, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Transphobia, Lesbian Evie, M/M, MTF Mal, Not too graphic tho, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, Unrequited Love, ftm Carlos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 09:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12078672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentassassin21/pseuds/silentassassin21
Summary: "Looking back, that was probably the first night when Evie had looked at Mal for a fraction too long and had seen how beautiful she was."[Evie pines hardcore over Mal. That's it, that's the entire fic]





	she means everything to me

**Author's Note:**

> So I was bored and made a Malvie video to the song "She" by Dodie and then went "hey i'll just write it" so I did. But as I wrote more of this I started to break away from the song more and more so it's pretty much just unrequited malvie now and doesn't really have much to do with the song. 
> 
> I haven't read the books yet so probably everything about their backstory's will be v inaccurate but I couldn't care less bc my backstory is super aNgStY and I love it.
> 
> [EDIT: I have been informed that my treatment of Mal's gender isn't good and I'm planning to rewrite this fic so I can treat it with more care. I'm very sorry for my offensive portrayal of her and her identity]

The first time Evie saw the fae with purple hair she was ten and it had only been for a second.

Evie had been running an errand for her mother and only had a few minutes to get home before her mother would get angry. She had been running through alleys and ducking in between people, feeling like she might actually get there in time, when someone ran into her and sent everything in her hands flying. Evie had fallen, hard, but she recovered quickly and tried to salvage as much as she could.

She looked up to curse the person who had ran into her but saw no one there. Instead, she saw a small figure clad in purple climbing onto a roof and sprinting away. With no one there to blame, Evie had quickly gotten as many of the items as she could and ran home, more focused on the punishment she knew she would get than the person who had hit her.

The second time was a year or so later. The Evil Queen had been occupied with someone who called her beautiful and powerful so Evie knew that she probably had a few hours to herself. There wasn't much to do on the Isle but she wasn't dumb enough to squander this rare opportunity of freedom.

With freedom on her mind, Evie found herself walking to the docks. She found a roof close to the edge of the island to sit on and look out, to where the Isle and Auradon seas met. The Isle sea was a dark, murky colour with trash strewn throughout it. But the Auradon sea was so beautiful that Evie pulled out her sketchbook and started to draw it.

It was a clear blue, small water creatures swimming in it. The sun that never seemed to reach the Isle made the waves glitter and small rainbows appear randomly across the water.

Evie wasn't very skilled at drawing yet but she loved it so she continued to try. With only a small piece of charcoal she couldn't ever hope to properly capture the beauty of the ocean but damn would she try her hardest.

She must have spent hours there, not noticing the way that the sun moved, and would have spent many more if not for the loud shouting coming from behind her. She turned and saw a familiar purple-haired figure standing on the edge of the roof, yelling profanities below. In between the string of curse words Evie could make out that the person was yelling at Uma, the daughter of the sea witch and the leader of one of the many gangs on the Isle.

The person turned and caught Evie staring, their eyes immediately changing to a violent green. "I'm sorry," Evie immediately said even though she wasn't. She recognised the figure; the son of Maleficent.

"No you're not," he said with a laugh that bordered on cruel. "You're just sorry I caught you."

Evie could only shrug. There was no use disagreeing and angering him. She didn't think he would hesitate to pitch her off the roof if she breathed wrong.

"The fuck are you?" he asked, sitting on one of the many chimney's that were scattered across the tin roof.

"Evie," she said. "I'm -"

"Daughter of Evil Queen," he interrupted with a smirk. "Figured. I'm Malcolm."

He didn't say who his parent was, probably knowing that she had already figured it out. Feeling brave, Evie asked, "Why are you so pissed off at Uma?"

Malcolm laughed. "I honestly don't remember," he said, picking up a rock from his feet and throwing it in the general direction of the boat Evie recognised as Uma's. Loud shouts erupted from it so Evie guessed Malcolm had hit his target. A few seconds later the rock came flying back at them, a cross carved hastily into it.

This only made Malcolm laugh harder. He didn't throw it back this time just dropped it down the chimney, looking disappointed at the lack of outraged cries coming from within the building. "So, why're you up here?"

It took Evie a second to realise he was addressing her. "Escaping," was all she said. Malcolm didn't pry further, probably understanding the need to escape home. Very few of the children of villains had anything resembling a loving home. In fact, Evie's was one of the better ones.

* * *

From that day onwards, they had become friends, sort of. It was strained and casual at first, just them talking if they ever saw each other. The first time Evie realised they had become friends was when she woke up one night to footsteps in her room. She had sat bolt upright, a sharp knife in her hands and pointed at someone's throat. It took a few seconds for her to realise it was Malcolm.

"Whoa, calm down," he said, raising his arms defensively with a smirk on his face. "Just me."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Evie asked, tucking the knife back under her pillow. She glanced at the door, not expecting her mother to come in but still nervous.

"Need a place to crash." Malcolm didn't elaborate but Evie had a feeling she knew what had happened; an argument of some kind with his mother that made him feel unsafe in his home.

Evie moved over in her bed, gesturing for him to join her. He slipped under her covers and put a hand under the pillow, his fingers no doubt curling around the handle of the small knife. She understood the comfort a weapon could give and didn't comment.

After ten minutes of neither of them sleeping or even closing their eyes, Malcolm said quietly, "Can I tell you something, E?"

She nodded. "I don't like being called Malcolm," he said quietly. "I think I like Mal."

"Okay, Mal," Evie said with a small smile. "Do you just like the nickname or are you like Carlos?"

Evie had known Carlos practically since birth. They had only been four when he had told her he was a boy and liked the name Carlos better than Ella. His mother hadn't cared, something which had surprised them both, but Carlos had once told her that he thought it was because she thought he would grow out of it.

"Like Carlos, I think," Mal said, biting ~~his~~ her lip.

"Was that why you left?" Evie asked carefully, making sure that Mal knew she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to.

There was a pause and then Mal said, "No, it wasn't that."

Evie decided to not pry further and instead pulled an arm around the purple-haired girl, tugging her closer. Mal closed her eyes and smiled.

Looking back, that was probably the first night when Evie had looked at Mal for a fraction too long and had seen how beautiful she was.

* * *

From that point onwards they were friends. Their duo had quickly turned to a group after Carlos tagged along with Evie once and Jay had needed somewhere safe to stay. It had become a regular occurrence for Evie to have at least one of her three friends sharing her bed after something bad with their parents had happened. She was lucky, she supposed; her mother only yelled at her and worked her to exhaustion and deprived her of food. She didn't slash at her like Mal's mother did, she didn't beat her half to death like Carlos' mother did, she didn't smash her into walls like Jay's father did.

On one occasion, all three of her friends were in her bed. They were all squashed together, Carlos half hanging off the bed, and Evie had realised who her family was. It was a nice feeling.

It had only been the next day when that family had become strained. Mal had reconciled with Uma, kind of, and had started spending more time with the pirate gang. No one else went with her until she started her relationship with Uma.

Relationship was probably not the best word for what they had but Evie couldn't think of a better one. When it had started Jay began to tag along with Mal more and more, always trying his best to protect the girl who hated protection. Evie didn't think his motives were as pure as he claimed they were if the bruises and scratches across his throat were any indication but she still appreciated him attempting to help her.

Evie and Carlos refused to go, both saying they didn't trust the pirate gang to not drown them. Carlos was telling the truth; Evie was not.

The blue-haired girl had seen when Mal had shoved Uma against a wall and stuck her tongue down her throat and she hadn't liked the tight feeling she had gotten in her stomach so she made sure to never see them together.

She was unaware of what the feeling meant.

* * *

In the years that followed Evie had figured out what the feeling was. She understood that when she saw Mal and Uma hanging off each other her heart ached and she had to look away because she wished she were in Uma's place. She wished it was her arm around Mal's waist, her lips on Mal's throat, her name on Mal's lips.

But it wasn't, so she looked elsewhere and found other Isle girls who needed to blow off some steam; CJ, Freddie, Uma's older sister, Anastasia Tremaine's daughter. She tried once with Gil but quickly realised that guys weren't her thing and stuck exclusively to girls.

Mal and Uma's relationship was rocky, at best, and often only lasted a few months before disintegrated. That was always the worst part of it; they couldn't go to the docks, Mal would be moodier than usual, Jay would spend less time with them so he could secretly hang out with Harry, and Evie would feel guilt curling inside her at how happy she was that Uma was out of the picture.

Then they would get back together and the cycle would begin again.

* * *

Uma and Mal were off when the four of them were shipped off to Auradon, which was probably for the best because otherwise that would have only made everything worse. Evie saw the way that Jay looked regretfully at the Isle as it slipped out of view behind them and she put her hand on his shoulder as a show of comfort. He smiled at her but she knew it was fake.

Carlos was the complete opposite. Evie didn't think she had ever see him as happy as he was when they got through the magic barrier and it seemed to sink in that he was finally away from his mother and sitting in a luxurious car with his friends. With chocolate smeared across his face and candy in his hands he leaped at Evie to hug her. She cringed at the stickiness from his hands getting on her dress but still hugged him back.

They ignored their parents ~~request~~ demand for the wand and basked in the glory of finally escaping the Isle.

That glory only lasted as long as they were in the car for. Evie crinkled her nose at the large castle that made up Auradon Prep, and felt even less excited by the people in front of her. All the colours were bright, all the girls were in dresses or skirts, and all the boys were in pants with short hair. The VK's couldn't have stood out more with Jay's long hair, Carlos' eyeliner, Mal's pants, Evie's dark blue.

As they walked in the front doors she could feel Carlos' hand slip into hers. It was a comfort thing and she felt grateful for it, like she had someone to hold her up as they were assaulted with judgemental looks.

The weeks went by and she didn't miss the way that the Fairy Godmother would gently suggest pink instead of blue, would tell Carlos to stop wearing make up, would offer to cut Jay's hair.

Soon, all that Evie truly loved about Auradon were her friends. But that had it's own kind of torture; she shared a room with Mal, saw her almost all the time, and had to see her fall in love with Ben. She thought seeing her making out with Uma was bad but it was nothing compared to seeing Mal's eyes turn soft whenever she saw Ben. It made Evie feel slightly sick and she had to grin and pretend that she was okay with it.

* * *

When Ben was king it only became worse. Evie couldn't turn on a TV without seeing Mal and Ben at an event or meeting someone famous or pictures sneakily taken of them during private moments. It hurt to see her friends in love (she wasn't an idiot, she had seen the way that Jay and Carlos looked at each other and the fact that Carlos' bed hadn't been slept in for months) but she forced herself to stop feeling that hurt. She should be happy for them; she _was_ happy for them. She just wished she could have some of that happiness but knew she never could while Mal, now blonde and using magic more than ever, was happily spending every possible moment with Ben.

Evie felt a sort of sick satisfaction when Mal returned to the Isle and Ben was left behind, heartbroken. She went with him because the idea of him saving her ( _again_ ) wasn't one she liked. She regretted it when she heard Mal's icy words rejecting her and then regretted it even more when she saw how angry, how _hurt_ Mal was when Ben was kidnapped by the pirates.

She hid her surprise when Mal told her she had never fit in at Auradon and how she couldn't take that happiness away from Evie. She felt herself burn with shame that she had been so oblivious to what Mal was going through. Despite her recent questions of whether or not Evie missed their birthplace, she had genuinely thought Mal was happy being the princess they had always dreamed of.

Evie felt warmth spread throughout her as she held Mal tightly to her, smiling and lacing their fingers together, wishing this was how it could always be. Wishing there wasn't the threat to Ben's life hanging over them.

* * *

Mal was officially a Lady of the Court and the smile on her face as she danced with Ben made Evie smile as well. "You'll get to dance one day, too," Carlos said from next to her. He probably thought she was thinking of wanting to dance with a princess, something which they had been told was strictly forbidden. "Come on."

Carlos nudged their shoulders together and took her hand. She laughed and followed him onto the dance floor, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and swaying gently from side to side with her best friend. Both of them wished they had someone else in their arms but both were also content to dance with each other, knowing the rumours that would likely start from it.

They danced for several songs until more upbeat ones started and Jay and Carlos could dance together without getting a detention. Evie danced with them for a while but broke away when she saw Mal standing in a corner, looking out at the ocean beneath them. She broke away from the two boys and walked over to her friend, finding a nostalgic and sad smile on her face.

"You okay?" she asked, making sure that her voice was soft so not to startle the fae.

Mal nodded. "I guess."

Evie raised her eyebrows slightly. Mal was most certainly not okay but she didn't want to push too much. "Are you sure?"

"Let's talk about it later," Mal said, putting on what she probably thought was a happy smile. Evie just nodded and lead Mal to where Jay and Carlos had been joined by Lonnie and Jordan.

That night, when the party was over and everyone was back in their dorm rooms, Evie heard familiar footsteps cross their bedroom. "Are you awake, E?" Mal asked, standing awkwardly beside her bed.

Evie nodded and sat up, patting the bedspread beside her for Mal to sit. "What's up?" she asked.

Mal took in a deep breath. "I am a Lady of the Court," she started, Evie nodding along. "But... I'm not with Ben."

That made Evie's heart stop. "What?" she asked incredulously.

"We're still pretending to be together, for appearances and everything, but... stuff happened on the Isle and we've realised we just don't fit well together." There was a vulnerability in Mal's voice that made Evie wrap her arms tightly around her.

They stayed like that for what could have been hours for all Evie knew. She was only aware of the warmth of Mal's body, the tightness of her arms, the smell of her perfume, and nothing else existed outside of the girl in front of her.

Mal was the first to break away, but she didn't go very far. "I... realised something. While I was on the Isle again."

When she didn't immediately continue Evie didn't press, knowing it was better to let Mal get the words out in her own time. "I love you, E," she said finally.

"I love you, too, Mal," Evie replied. Every part of her hurt and warmed at the same time.

"No, I..." Mal stopped and looked directly into Evie's eyes. "I _love you_ Evie."

It took a few seconds for the meaning of the words to fully sink in. Then all Evie could do was smile widely and say, "I really do love you."

Mal smiled as well, and Evie thought she had never been this happy and would likely never be this happy ever again. Mal leaned in carefully and gently pressed her lips against Evie's. It was only a few seconds long but it left Evie flustered.

Both their eyes were shining and their cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. No more words were exchanged for the rest of the night. Evie lifted her blanket and Mal slipped underneath, pressing her body against Evie's so her head rested on the other girls' chest. Their hand curled into each others' and they fell asleep in each others arms for the first time of many.

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out /much/ less angsty than I thought it would. Honestly, I was going to end it with Evie still pining over Mal and Ben/Mal being canon but my femslash heart wouldn't allow it so you got a first kiss and confession of feelings. You're welcome.
> 
> This also turned out waaayyyy longer than I thought but I like how it turned out. Please give kudos and comment if you like it :)
> 
> [Also, I am a cis-female so I obviously don't have first-hand experience of being trans and am open to criticism of my portrayal of trans characters. EDIT: if you're cis please don't comment about this because you're just as unqualified as I am to comment on trans characters portrayal]


End file.
